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This chapter describes Mrs. Rudd's writings of her life. It notes that Mrs. Rudd wrote the first version of her life, her “Case”, just after her arrest in February. It adds that after the brothers' trial and her remand to Newgate she wrote another version, published this time as a pamphlet, “Facts”. It observes that a number of themes appeared repeatedly in her publications noting that the most prominent among the themes was the discussion she offered of her “two families”. It describes the two families where one family consisted of the aristocratic connections she claimed for herself, which played the largest role in constituting her own identity; the other was the family she had created with Daniel and their three children including the other Perreaus.

This chapter discusses Mrs. Rudd's trial which opened on December 8, 1775, and attracted a large crowd. It notes that the trial lasted from nine in the morning until almost eight in the evening and the prosecution, conducted by William Lucas, Henry Howarth, and Murphy, presented a less than persuasive case; the defense shared between Serjeant Davy, Thomas Davenport, and Cowper, was alternately hectoring and humorous. It observes that the trial fell into three distinct acts, almost like a stage play: first the presiding judge, Aston, addressed Mrs. Rudd, telling her why she was on trial and informing her of the opinion of the twelve judges; second, the prosecution presented its witnesses and laid out its case; and, finally, Mrs. Rudd's anticipated defense which proved an anticlimax.

This chapter discusses the press reports on the Perreau case which turned it into a national sensation—an inescapable phenomenon. It notes that the press gave full accounts of all the official proceedings, but their contribution went beyond mere reporting of the major legal developments. It further notes that both Mrs. Rudd and the Perreaus used the press to circulate their accounts and the parties involved in the case flooded the papers with letters offering new accusations. It observes that the tale of forgery exploded at a pivotal moment in the history of English journalism. It notes that the Perreau-Rudd case offered fresh territory for expansion and the papers helped to produce a new genre, the sensational criminal trial.

This chapter provides the biographies of the central characters: Daniel and Robert Perreau and Mrs. Rudd. It notes that during and immediately after their trials, the Perreaus and their witnesses told of the fair promises that Mrs. Rudd had employed to secure their confidence. It reports that Mrs. Rudd offered such a tempting prospect of advancement that the Perreaus could be pardoned for naively acting as her agents. It further reports that they were dazzled when Mrs. Rudd spoke of how her relations and their connections were at work to set the brothers up as bankers, buy them a country estate, make Daniel a member of Parliament and a baronet. It observes that before the disclosures at Bow Street, the Perreaus stood at the center of one kind of London story; that of rapid economic success followed by increasing social and even political influence.

This chapter discusses the legal controversy surrounding Mrs. Rudd's detention after the trial of Daniel Perreau. It notes that this act transformed what had been a scandal into a major legal controversy. It further notes that before the case was over, it would raise serious questions about the law and bring the procedures of justice itself into dispute. It observes that in the charged political climate of the 1770s, the press and the public were sensitive to the conduct of the executive and the courts. The chapter further observes that the complex, ongoing struggle between the Crown and the supporters of the radical MP John Wilkes over executive power and privilege, as well as conflict between American colonists and the government over many of the same issues, formed the backdrop for such apprehensions.

This chapter discusses Mrs. Rudd's acquittal and the papers interpreted it as the product of a technicality, the result of confusion on the part of the jurors. It notes that the world remained convinced that she was “mistress of the art of deceit to an inconceivable degree”. It opines that while her trial had not resulted in her conviction, everything during it substantiated the charge that she had deceived the brothers. It observes that ironically, Mrs. Rudd's acquittal served to increase the feeling that she had gotten away with the crime and it appeared that her sinister triumph would be crowned when the brothers perished at Tyburn.

This section discusses the fate of the central characters in the story of the famous forgery who survived for several decades, after the protagonists faded from public view. It notes that whether or not justice had been done, the price had been paid, the Perreaus executed, Mrs. Rudd released, and the case closed. It reports that Mrs. Rudd re-emerged briefly as a failed essayist and novel-writer in the late 1780s; and had another glimpse of her through the eyes and pen of her last known and perhaps most famous lover, James Boswell. It explains why Mrs. Rudd encouraged James Boswell's attentions, who had neither the will nor the means to keep her in any style at all. It also considers Horace Walpole's evaluation of Mrs. Rudd's public impact.

This section discusses the coverage of the book which attempts to provide an explanation to the fascination that the affair of Mrs. Rudd and the Perreaus exerted over England. It offers a glimpse into neglected corners and hidden relationships within that society. It notes that the decade of the 1770s has most frequently been studied in relation to imperial concerns and their impact upon political institutions of the day. It intends to draw a different portrait of the period, making the cause célèbre the point of entry. The era is peopled by familiar figures such as John Wilkes and George III, Lord Mansfield and Sir John Fielding, and also those less well known: speculators and courtesans as well as judges and politicians.

This chapter describes the public execution of seven men hanged for property offenses. It notes that these men were Lyon Abrahams and Saunders Alexander, convicted of burglary, George Lee, a handsome eighteen year old condemned for highway robbery, two coiners, Richard Baker and John Radcliffe, the twin brothers, Daniel and Robert Perreau, convicted of forgery. It further notes that although the brothers had been convicted of forgery, they continued to protest that they were the victims of a beautiful, intelligent, and dangerous courtesan, Mrs. Margaret Caroline Rudd. It relates that when the crime was first detected in March, the brothers insisted on their innocence and alleged that Mrs.Rudd, Daniel's mistress, had entrapped them.